Jackson was fixing his air conditioner at his Bentleigh home on Saturday which led to him hurting his quad – which had the experienced sprinter fearing the worst.

“I thought it was going to trouble me, but after the heats it was feeling all right,” Jackson said.

“I had some doubts in the heat, but I got through that all right.”

Once he got through the heats in comfortable fashion, any doubt in his mind quickly diminished.

Jackson held off a competitive field in the 120m sprint to edge out Stuart Rooke with a time of 12.4 seconds running off a nine-metre handicap.

The victory caught Jackson by surprise following a difficult year-and-a-half.

Eighteen months ago he underwent hamstring tendon surgery, and until a few months ago he thought his best form was behind him.

But after a difficult time in the 37-year-old’s career, the past three months have provided hope that a return to his best was reachable and Sunday’s run confirmed it.

“It was shocking (after surgery). I was about 30-40 per cent off what I used to be able to do – I had major doubts.

“It went from terrible, to almost terrible and then it just stayed there until the 15-month mark and then suddenly I had a massive improvement. Which I was told can happen, but unless you’ve done it you don’t really believe it.

“Only in the last few weeks have I been able to really turn it on, so I’m rapt.

“I thought I had a good chance here, but I didn’t think I could run that fast.”

Jackson said the result has changed how he will approach his racing calendar.

The lure of possibly getting back to his best is something that he did not expect to encounter and while he may race in Rye, nothing was set in stone.

“This has changed everything. It makes me think I can get close to my previous top speed, but at the same time my handicap would be adjusted so it makes it really hard.”